Most automobiles and other vehicles that pass fuel from an on-board fuel tank to the engine have a fuel pump and a filter for transporting clean fuel from the tank to the engine. A filter is required so that any trash, debris, or other particulate matter that might be present in the tank can be filtered out of the fuel being delivered to the engine.
From time to time it is necessary to clean or replace the filter in the fuel line so as to assure proper flow of fuel from the tank to the engine. When the housing of the fuel filter assembly is opened, it is likely that the fuel from the tank will flow through the line toward the open filter housing, creating spillage of fuel about the vehicle, which is a dangerous and undesirable situation.
In the past, a remedy for avoiding fuel spillage upon opening the fuel filter housing has been to make sure that the fuel storage tank on the vehicle is substantially empty, and/or to attempt to catch the fuel being spilled from the filter housing.
It is to the solution of this problem that this invention is directed.